


Devil Like You

by MissScorp



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Lucifer Morningstar Being Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Lucifer brooding, Lucifer dealing with his grief, Lucifer having an epiphany, Post episode comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:42:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25271074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/pseuds/MissScorp
Summary: Lucifer has not been the same since his fight with his brother, Uriel. Nothing assuages his guilt. Nothing dulls his pain. He wants comfort but has no where to turn for it. Because who would comfort the devil?
Relationships: Amenadiel & Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV), Amenadiel & Mazikeen (Lucifer TV), Chloe Decker & Lucifer Morningstar, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV) & Original Character(s), Mazikeen & Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	Devil Like You

Veronica del Rio had seen Lucifer Morningstar many ways.

She had seen him when he was happy.

She frequently saw him when he was frustrated, annoyed or all out angry.

She had been on the receiving end of his playful, flirtatious and mischievous side.

She helped straighten up his loft after one of his marathons of booze, sex, and drugs.

What she had never seen him like was this, though.

His luxurious hair tousled in a not-so-charming way, three days worth of stubble lining that glorious jaw, and those mesmerizing eyes of his red-rimmed and puffy from more than simply indulging every carnal whim he could think of.

Closer inspection revealed his suit jacket on the floor beneath the piano bench on which he perched.

His dress shirt was untucked, wrinkled, and nearly half unbuttoned.

His black slacks were in a similar state of dishevel.

If Veronica didn't know better, she'd say he had slept in his clothes.

That was impossible, though.

Lucifer Morningstar never slept in his clothes.

Most often he didn't sleep in _anything_.

He was also fastidious to a fault.

He didn't appear in public unless he was immaculately dressed and meticulously groomed.

_Unless it was to grab another handful of bottles from the bar._

Lucifer seated at his piano in this disheveled state could only mean one thing: something was wrong.

Only way to find out was to go and ask him.

She wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

Lucifer Morningstar could be... difficult.

_And that's putting it mildly._

Her four-and-a-half year old could be easier to deal with than Lucifer.

Could be a tad more mature, too.

Lucifer's main problem was he internalized his emotions until he couldn't contain them any longer.

Than he erupted like a volcano.

Blowing hot ash and rock and magma into the air until the pressure subsided.

How to avoid that from happening now was beyond her.

Sex is always an option, she supposed as she descended the stairs. _Indulging his carnal appetite always works to distract him._

It wasn't exactly her first choice for how to deal with a brooding devil but it wasn't like she had any choice.

She had to do something.

For the good of the people of Los Angeles, as well as for Lucifer, himself.

Veronica weaved her way through the throng of people to where he sat, halfheartedly pecking at the ivory keys, a forgotten cigarette burning atop a pile of others in a glass ashtray to his left, and an almost empty glass of whiskey on his right.

"Lucifer."

He stopped playing but did not otherwise acknowledge her. Definitely a sign something was wrong. Veronica switched tactics. Deciding wheedling, cajoling, and gentle teasing might get her farther than bluntly asking what troubled him.

"Luc."

She used the pet name she had given him in hopes it'd inspire a reaction.

It didn't.

Concerned now, Veronica set a hand on the back of his shoulder. His muscles bunched beneath her palm, his only reaction to her touching him. He didn't shrug her hand off, though. Veronica considered that a win.

"Luc, talk to me."

That finally got a response from him.

"What're you doing here, Nikita?"

His normally warm baritone was little more than a monotone. Veronica slid her fingers into the soft hair at his nape, rubbed in slow circles to ease the tension gathered there.

"I came to see you." She placed her other hand on his shoulder. "I missed you, Luc."

It wasn't a total lie. She had come to see him. And she had missed him. However, the pleasure of his company wasn't the entire reason for why she had come to Lux. Veronica opted to keep the full reason for her visit to herself.

At least until she found out what was bothering him.

"I'm afraid I'm not very good company right now."

"I can see that." A faint hint of brimstone mixed with the more pungent aroma of cigarette smoke, aftershave, and a floral scent that could belong to any number of women wafted up to curl her nostrils. "Want to tell me why you're not very good company?"

Lucifer hummed a sound deep in his throat as he reached for his nearly empty glass of whiskey.

"Not particularly." He drained the amber liquid in one swallow. Set the empty glass beside the overflowing ashtray. "Go home, Kita."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Not that Lucifer did.

No, he simply resumed playing the piano. His way of saying the conversation was at an end.

_Fat chance, that_ , she decided as she listened to him play.

_Devil Like You_ , she realized, a small smile curving her lips. Her favorite song. Veronica recalled the first time she heard it. Lucifer had sang it for her while she cleaned up after one of his bacchanals.

She had been down in the dumps and in need of a pick-me-up.

Lucifer's velvety baritone had cruised along her nerves, stealing away her blues, and making her forget about her troubles.

_Well, what's good for the goose is just as good for Lucifer Morningstar._

" _I've got a weakness... I am a fool_ ," she crooned softly as she rubbed his shoulders. " _For a devil. For a devil like you_."

She held her breath when he stopped playing. Braced herself for the explosion looming on the horizon. Veronica didn't fear he would physically strike her, however. Lucifer was many things but physically abusive was not one of them.

Unless someone deserved it, of course.

"Dance for me, Nikita." His voice warbled on his name for her. The eyes that met hers shimmered with a torment that stole her breath and plunged an icicle into her heart. "Please."

If her dancing was what Lucifer needed to deal with whatever demons hounded him?

Then she'd dance for him.

Because Veronica del Rio had seen Lucifer Morningstar many ways.

She had seen him when he was happy.

She frequently saw him when he was frustrated, annoyed or all out angry.

She had been on the receiving end of his playful, flirtatious and mischievous side.

She helped straighten up his loft after one of his marathons of booze, sex, and drugs.

She had never seen him grieve, though.

_And that_ , Veronica realized as he again began to play, _is exactly what he's doing_.

Grieving.

She didn't know for who.

And it really didn't matter.

She'd be there for him as he had been there for her after her husband's vicious assault.

Because she was Lucifer Morningstar's friend.

And friends were there for each other.

They acted like fools.

_Especially when they're a devil like you_ , she said as she started to dance.

...

"Who is the woman with Lucifer?"

It galled Maze how he managed to catch her unaware. It wasn't something that should happen.

She was Mazikeen of the Lilim, after all.

Daughter of Lilith.

One of the strongest and most powerful demons to ever exist.

The most skilled and efficient torturer Hell had ever known.

Snuck up on by an angel.

Annoyance and other things she couldn't define and didn't like slithered through Maze. She rest her hands on the balcony railing to keep from balling them in fists. Last thing she wanted to do was get into a fight with Amenadiel.

Especially when Lucifer was going through something that could potentially cause blowback on the rest of them. Still, didn't mean she couldn't play with him some.

"What woman?"

"The one doing..." There was a pause. "Whatever it is she's doing."

Maze snorted a laugh. "It's called dancing, Amenadiel." She flicked a look at him from the corner of her eye. "Belly dancing, in fact."

"Is she another of Lucifer's numerous lovers?"

Part of her wanted to tell Amenadiel it was none of his business who Veronica del Rio was.

Another part, her more mischievous one, wanted to feed him a series of half-truths and lies just to see what he'd do.

She couldn't do that, though.

Not to Veronica, who Maze actually liked.

"She's a friend," was what she finally settled on telling him. "That's all."

"Lucifer doesn't have friends."

"He's friends with Detective Decker."

"Chloe Decker is more than a friend and you know it."

_He has a point_ , Maze realized, brow furrowing. _Chloe Decker was more than a friend to Lucifer_.

So was Veronica del Rio.

It wasn't her story to tell, though.

It was Lucifer's and the woman currently doing everything in her power to draw him out of the dark state he had fallen into after his fight with Uriel.

"Her name's Veronica del Rio." She cut a look at Amenadiel. "And that's all I'm going to tell you."

Maze felt Amenadiel's questioning gaze on her but she had already returned her gaze to what was going on below.

Or rather, what _wasn't_ happening, she realized, fingers tightening on the railing.

Because Lucifer wasn't back to his usual obnoxious self.

He had not gotten up from the piano and shouted drinks were on the house.

No, he continued to sit there, shoulders bowed, head down. Even from this distance, Maze could tell his breathing was coming in short, uneven pants.

"Lucifer needs someone to snap him out of this." Maze heard true concern in Amenadiel's voice. When she glanced at him she saw his expression was grim. "He is going to end up doing something stupid if he continues down this path."

Not that Amenadiel needed to worry.

Veronica del Rio had also noticed Lucifer hadn't rebounded after she danced for him.

With a quiet word in his ear, and a hand on his arm, she convinced him to rise from the piano, and leave with her.

"See?" Maze indicated with a wave of her hand. "She's got this."

"I hope so." Amenadiel melted back into the shadows. "I really do, Maze."

So, did she.

She just wouldn't tell _him_ that.

...

They completed the ride up to Lucifer's penthouse in silence. Once the elevator doors opened, Veronica led him, unresisting, over to one of his leather armchairs. He dropped into it with a sigh before waving a hand towards the bar.

"Pour me a drink, won't you?"

"I think you've had enough alcohol for tonight, Luc."

He barked a hollow laugh.

"Not enough alcohol in the world to get me drunk, Nikota. You know that."

His devilish metabolism prevented him from finding the oblivion he so desperately sought.

Why he wanted to end up in that state of unconsciousness was what she needed to find out.

Because Lucifer Morningstar tended to do impulsive and dangerous things when he got moody.

Nightly orgies with an array of strangers, a bottomless well of alcohol and drugs, going on insane spending sprees...

_And that's not even the worst I've seen him do when he's in this sort of mood..._

Worried what he might do if he continued in this state, Veronica sank to her knees before him, resting her hands on his, and gazing up at him imploringly.

"Tell me what's wrong." She slid her fingers between his. Squeezed gently. "Please, Luc."

"I can't." Bleak eyes met hers. Added to the bands forming around her chest, her head. Tightening until she could barely breathe. "You wouldn't understand." His head fell back against the back of the chair. "Nobody does."

He looked dramatic, sprawled in his chair as he was, unkempt and disheveled. It lent him a dark and broody air. The romantic hero, full of anger, and turmoil.

Not that he'd appreciate that description if she told it to him.

No, Lucifer tended to reject anything that painted him as anything but the rebellious son who chose to leave Hell and come to Earth for a permanent vacation.

"Luc, look at me." He didn't so much as twitch a finger. "Look at me, please."

He finally shifted his gaze from the ceiling to hers. The heat of it scorched Veronica. Her heart throbbed at the torment filling those dark depths. Her stomach clenched seeing the moisture gathered in the corners of his eyes.

He wouldn't dare let it fall, though.

Not while she was there to witness it.

Pride wouldn't allow it.

"I can see you're hurting. I can feel it. Won't you tell me why?" Veronica stroked her thumbs across his knuckles. Silently encouraging, subtly soothing. "Let me carry this burden for you."

"Kita..."

"Nothing you tell me is going to shock me."

Lucifer let out a sound that bordered on a half-laugh and half-scoff.

"Oh, I think this will."

"You forget, Luc." Veronica reached up to cup his cheek in her palm. "I've seen your other face." She ran her thumb beneath his eye. "Admittedly, I much prefer this one..." she lightly teased. "It's more pleasing to look at."

He didn't rise to her bait as she anticipated he would.

If anything, he seemed to sink lower into himself.

"You're one of the few who have seen my devil's face and not run from me in fear."

"Because I have no reason to fear you."

"You will if I tell you what I've done."

"No." Soft but firm. "I won't."

"Nikita..." Desperation thickened his voice. Filled the eyes staring into hers. "Please, don't make me tell you."

"Luc." She cupped his other cheek. "This burden is tearing you apart. Let me help you carry it."

Indecision warred with the guilt and misery etched into his face. Lucifer wanted to tell her what had sent him down this dark path of debauchery and overindulgence.

He just couldn't bring himself to speak the words.

Largely, she assumed, because his pride, as well as a good dose of male ego prevented him from doing so.

"Luc..."

"I killed him." The words came tumbling out in a rush. Almost tripping over themselves in their hurry to leave his mouth. "I-I kil-led him."

"Who?" Veronica kept her voice soft, soothing. Cajoling. "Who did you kill?"

"My brother." A tear rolled down his cheek. "I killed my brother, Uriel."

Veronica's mouth dropped open since that definitely was _not_ what she expected him to say.

"You..." she said slowly. "Killed... your brother?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Does it matter why I did it?" Lucifer's voice throbbed with the storm of emotions he was trying his hardest to keep locked inside. "I bloody well did it and that's all that matters."

"But why did you do it?" Veronica knew there was a reason. A good one. "You had a reason, Luc. You wouldn't have killed your brother without one. It's not in you to kill without a reason."

"I'm the—"

"Devil," she finished for him. "Yes, I know you are. You're not a murderer, though. Not of your own family. You had a reason why you killed him. What was it?"

His face twisted as grief and guilt battled with Lucifer's want, need for comfort, and sympathy. He wavered only a minute more before his eyes met hers, skewering her with the agony tearing his heart and soul apart.

"He threatened to kill someone very dear to me." He closed his eyes. More a long blink than anything. "And to erase another from existence."

"You were protecting these people from him?" A nod was his answer. "Then you did nothing wrong. You were protecting people you care about."

"I killed my brother." A tear slithered down his cheek. "I killed Uriel."

"Yes, you did." Veronica smoothed away the trickle of moisture. "You did it for a good reason." She wiped away another tear. "That makes you a hero, Luc."

"A hero." His fist slammed down on the armrest. "I'm the devil! I'm the embodiment of evil!"

"In your version of yourself you are evil. A monster even." Veronica sat back on her heels. "My version sees you as the antihero. An angel fallen who does good because he is good despite everything he says and does."

The fight seemed to go out of him with those words.

"I'm knackered, Kita." Weariness replaced the spark of temper of moments before. "I'm so bloody knackered. All I want to do is sleep for five bloody minutes with nothing in my head."

Exhaustion she could handle. That was simply a matter of getting him undressed and under the covers.

Healing the wounds Lucifer bled from?

That was a much taller task.

One Veronica del Rio was willing to tackle.

Because Lucifer Morningstar was worth saving.

Though he'd disagree, of course.

Like he always did.

"Come on." She unbuttoned his right wrist cuff. "Let's get you to bed then."

Lucifer didn't so much as offer up one of his cheeky grins at her undressing him.

That, more than anything, worried Veronica the most.

Because Lucifer Morningstar not wanting to indulge his carnal side happened about as frequently as a blue moon.

_No_ , she amended as she unbuttoned the left cuff before starting on the remaining buttons of his shirt. _Even that happens more often than him not indulging his carnal side_.

Lucifer was, indeed, hurting.

Badly.

And it was going to take a miracle to keep him from doing something stupid while he was in this state.

...

Chloe entered Lucifer's loft the next morning expecting to find him in mid-debauch. She didn't know what was going on with him but she knew _something_ was bothering him. He hadn't been acting like himself the last few days.

_Well_ , she amended as her narrowed gaze swept the shockingly tidy living room, _he has been acting like himself but there's something off about the way he's acting like himself._

Almost as if it was a desperate attempt to convince people everything was okay.

"Lucifer?" she called out. "Are you here?"

"He's in the shower."

Chloe turned to the speaker. The woman standing there with a silver coffee service was not the usual sort of woman Lucifer tended to choose as his playmates.

She was too... _ordinary_ looking.

More suburban soccer mom than desperate housewife.

Chloe figured she was attractive enough with her dark hair cut to frame a face made up of mismatched features and angular lines.

She was slender and small-framed, small of feature, as well. Save for the eyes. They were long and dominant in that face of hers. Brimmed with a mixture of curiosity and intelligence.

"I'm sorry." Chloe plastered a polite smile on her face. "I didn't know Lucifer had company."

_Not that I'm surprised_.

The times where he didn't have company occurred less often than those where he did.

"Please, don't apologize." A warm smile curved her lips. "Can I offer you some coffee while we wait for him to join us?"

"Oh, ah, no." Chloe slowly backed towards the elevator. "I should go, actually. Leave you and Lucifer to enjoy..."

"You're Detective Decker, aren't you?" The woman walked over to set the coffee service on Lucifer's coffee table. "Lucifer has talked about you."

Chloe blinked. "He... he has?"

"Oh, yes." She waved to a chair. "Please? Have a seat. I'm sure he won't be long."

Chloe found herself moving towards the couch before she could stop herself. Blamed it on the curiosity she couldn't let go of.

"How do you know Lucifer?"

"We're friends." She handed Chloe a mug of fragrant coffee. "I'm Veronica, by the way."

Chloe watched as she — Veronica, she amended silently — poured coffee into another mug before she sat in the chair opposite her.

"Have you known Lucifer long?"

"About five years now."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up. "You've known him since he moved to LA?"

"Not since he moved to LA, no." Veronica smiled at Chloe over the rim of her mug. "I met him a few months after he became the owner of Lux, actually."

"Then you know he thinks himself..."

"The Devil?" Veronica nodded as she set her mug aside. "Yes, I'm aware Lucifer thinks himself the devil. It's a topic of debate between us."

"Because you know he's not the devil."

"That depends on how you want to look at it, Detective." Veronica sat back, crossed her legs. "See, I don't see him as the devil. To me, he's the angel who rescued me from the monster my father forced me to marry."

Surprise washed over Chloe. "He... rescued you?"

That seemed... _unusual_ for Lucifer.

Not that he couldn't be heroic. Lucifer had done many things during the course of their partnership that surprised her.

Most for his own purposes and intentions.

There had been a few times, though, where he had done things and it hadn't felt like it was because he had some hidden motive behind it.

"Lucifer found me in the alley where he parks his car." Veronica's tone was as somber as her expression. "I had been almost beaten to death by my husband. Lucifer got me to the hospital where doctors not only saved my life, but also that of my son, Lucian's."

"Lucian." Something she didn't dare name throbbed in her heart at hearing that name. A plethora of reasons for why she chose that name swirled through her mind. One the loudest. "Is he... is Lucifer..."

"His father?" Veronica hummed a soft laugh. "No, he's not."

"Then why name your son Lucian?"

Because it couldn't be a coincidence that Veronica chose a name so close to Lucifer's for her son.

"I chose it to honor the man who saved us." Veronica straightened the skirt of the simple dress she wore. "Detective, Lucifer was there in my darkest hour. He not only saw to it that Lucian and I got the best medical care but he made sure my husband paid for what he almost did to us."

"He... punished your husband?"

"Yes, by getting him to confess to the police what he did to me and to a lot of other people."

Chloe let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"Your husband is in jail then."

"Yes, he is," Lucifer said as he entered the room. "Where did you think he was, Detective?"

Chloe had no idea where she actually thought Veronica's husband was. It wasn't like she put any store in Lucifer's claims he was the King of Hell.

"Well, actually, Luc, that's what I came to tell you last night." Veronica passed her mug of coffee to him. "Julio was killed in a prison fight yesterday morning."

"Was he?" The pleased expression on his face sent a chill down Chloe's spine. "Well, now, he know where he has ended up. Quite deservedly, I might add."

"Hell is where men like Julio del Rio belong."

Chloe spit out the sip of coffee she took before she choked on it. "Julio del Rio was your husband?"

"Yes, he was." Veronica passed her a napkin. "Now, you can see why I don't see Lucifer as the devil. He's a saint compared to my husband."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Lucifer grumbled, expression dour. "Being a saint is more my brother's thing than mine."

"It wasn't your brother who saved me. It was _you_. You were the angel who answered my prayers, Luc."

"Kita..."

It was a warning. One Veronica had clearly heard before and not paid any mind to then any more than she did now.

"Fight it all you want but it is the truth."

Lucifer frowned at her in what Chloe thought was more frustrated bafflement than annoyance. The two were clearly close. Shared a connection that went beyond intimacy.

_He trusts her_ , she realized as Veronica pushed to her feet.

"I am going to go down and see if I can make heads or tails out of your books." She smiled at Chloe. "It was nice meeting you, Detective."

"You too."

"You don't have to look them over," Lucifer told her as he walked her to the elevator. "They're in perfectly fine order."

Veronica snorted a laugh.

"I tend to recall you almost lost Lux the last time Maze quit."

"Right." Lucifer made a face. "Don't want that."

"Didn't think so." Veronica leaned up to kiss his cheek. "We'll talk tonight. I'll make dinner."

"I could be very late."

"That's fine. Lucian is with his grandmother for the week so I have nowhere else to be."

"I'll bring up a bottle of wine then."

"All right."

Once Veronica was gone, Lucifer turned to Chloe.

"Well, Detective, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

Chloe found herself grasping for a plausible reason to justify why she was there in his loft. She couldn't tell him she was there because she was concerned about him. He'd only scoff and shrug it off. As he had the other times she asked him what was wrong. She finally settled on the only thing that'd appease his curiosity.

"A case. I'm here because we have a...a case."

A smile spread across his face. "A case?" He set his mug of coffee on the bar and reached for the jacket he tossed atop his piano when he joined her and Veronica. "Well, what are we doing sitting here? Let's go catch a killer!"

_Because for Lucifer Morningstar_ , Chloe realized as she got up to follow him to the elevator, _life is really that simple._

...

Veronica del Rio was among the limited number of celestials and humans who had the luxury of being his friend.

She earned that privilege by being as fiercely protective of him as Maze.

By her unwavering faith in his being a better man than he credited himself for being.

By her absolute refusal to see him as anything other than himself.

For choosing _him_ for _him_.

Because _he_ mattered.

Because she enjoyed _his_ companionship.

She had his trust and confidence for that reason.

Well, that and because she had seen his devil's face and not run from him, screaming.

Nikita had seen him many ways over the years.

She had seen him when he was happy.

When he was angry.

At his most devilishly charming.

After he indulged in a bacchanal of booze, sex, and drugs.

Now, she could add she had seen him grieving to the list.

Waking with his head in her lap had been a surprise. _An admittedly pleasant one_ , Lucifer thought as he watched her staring out over the city from his balcony.

She must have returned home to change while he was busy helping the Detective. The rather alluring dress she wore the night before had been replaced with a pair of black slacks and a simple blouse a rich shade of red.

Lucifer's gaze drifted to her shapely hips. Temptation fired in his blood. Nobody could say he was one to pass up a golden opportunity, after all.

And he could use a bit of distraction, really.

With that in mind, he joined Nikita on the balcony.

"I didn't think you'd be here when I got home."

"I said I would wait."

"You've been here all day?"

"No, I actually left a few hours ago to change and run a few errands." Veronica turned her head towards him. "Balancing the books and filling out order forms didn't take as long as I anticipated."

"I said they wouldn't."

"I know." She held a hand out for his glass. He passed it to her with little more than a raised brow. Drinking anything stronger than wine was something Veronica rarely did. "I had to go to the prison and handle some paperwork. Even dead, Julio controls me."

"He will be punished, Kita, I promise you that."

"I know he will be, Luc." She took a small sip, winced, and passed the glass back. "I don't know how you drink that stuff."

"It's an acquired taste."

She hummed a soft laugh. "You've acquired many tastes in your existence."

"Indeed, I have." He smiled as he raised his glass. "I'm thinking of indulging in one of my acquired tastes now, in fact."

"I'd like to be with you tonight," Veronica admitted without shame or remorse. "I have a strong need to be comforted and soothed. To touch and be taken."

"Well, then. Why don't we..."

"But I won't, Luc."

Lucifer's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"Because I don't think it's what either of us wants or needs."

"Oh, but I disagree." Lucifer sent her an easy smile. Slid a bit closer. "I think it's exactly what we need."

"Luc, I want you to do something for me." Veronica placed a hand on his arm. "I want you to ask me what I desire."

"Ask you..." He frowned. "Why?"

"Just do it." Her lower lip quivered. "Please."

A niggling worm of doubt slithered through Lucifer. Part of him wanted to refuse her request out of fear over what she'd reveal. The other part of him, the one he tried to ignore as much as possible, urged him to do as she asked because he might find himself pleasantly surprised at her revelation.

Curiosity won out.

Staring deep into Veronica's dark eyes, Lucifer asked the question he asked thousands of others before her.

"What is it you desire, Nikita?"

The answer she gave wasn't one he expected.

"I want..." Veronica wet her lips with her tongue. "I want you to hold me. To stroke my hair. Tell me everything is going to be okay even though nothing is." Tears sparkled on her lashes. Slicked her cheeks. Tore holes in a muscle he hadn't thought he possessed until he met the detective. "I need you, Luce." Her voice broke. "I need you to be my friend as I get through the next hellish days."

"Kita..." Stunned, shaken, all Lucifer could do was stare down into her upturned face. "I..."

"It's okay." The hand on his arm slid to his chest. Covered the muscle contained therein. "I know that matters of the heart are not your strong suit. Feelings make you uncomfortable. They make you vulner—"

The tumbler in his hand shattered, stunning them both. Whiskey and shards of glass rained down to splatter across the ground.

What horrified Lucifer, however, was the long, diagonal shaped cut across his palm.

He only bled when the detective was within a specific range.

She was home with her little urchin, though.

_So, why am I bleeding?_

That was what Lucifer needed to figure out.

Veronica snatched the handkerchief from his lapel and folded it around his injured hand.

"Let's go inside so I can remove that piece of glass embedded in your palm."

She didn't question the fact how he, the bloody devil, was bleeding.

Because Veronica del Rio had seen many things during their friendship.

She had seen him happy.

Angry.

Naughty.

Grieving.

Bleeding was simply par for the course to her.

_Not that it matters_ , he realized as he followed her inside.

She'd keep this secret same as she kept all his other ones.

Because she was loyal to _him_.

Her friend.

_I haven't been much of a friend to her, though_.

No, he took advantage of Nikita's friendship same as he did Linda's and Chloe's and Maze's.

Used them for his own purposes.

He wanted, more than anything, to change that.

Be the kind of friend to them they were to him.

He just didn't know how.

_I'll figure it out, though_ , he decided as her favorite song started to play on the stereo.

Because he, Lucifer Morningstar, had developed a weakness.

He allowed himself to sink too deep.

The devil had found a new thrill.

One he couldn't blame dear ole Dad for.

Not this time, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all, and welcome! So, I recently binged all four seasons of Lucifer on Netflix *cries at the withdrawal* I can't believe I didn't get into this show sooner. Plenty of angst, drama, hurt, comedy.
> 
> Lucifer killing Uriel struck me hard as did the subsequent episodes where it played hell on him (as Uriel was the first he ever killed— well, eradicated really). I wanted a little more comfort to go with the hurt and to play on the fact that Lucifer is able to be hurt when he becomes vulnerable.
> 
> So, here, this is.
> 
> Completely indulgent. I'm not sorry at all for it. I hope everyone enjoys it!
> 
> Please, if you do, favorite/kudo! Comments are also deeply cherished! Thank you and take care!


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